Pavel Grachev

Pavel Grachev (1 January 1948-23 September 2012) was Defense Minister of Russia from 18 May 1992 to 17 July 1996, succeeding Boris Yeltsin and preceding Mikhail Kolesnikov.

Biography
Pavel Grachev was born in Rvy, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union in 1948, and he joined the Soviet Army's airborne troops in 1965. He joined the CPSU in 1972 and graduated from the General Staff Academy in 1981, commanding the 103rd Guards Airborne Division during the Soviet-Afghan War. In December 1990, he was appointed commander of the Soviet airborne troops, and he became the USSR's First Deputy Minister of Defense during its breakup. From May 1992 to July 1996, he served as Defense Minister of Russia under his close friend, President Boris Yeltsin, and he supported Yeltsin during the August Coup of 1991 and the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis. From 1994 to 1996, he played a key role in initiating and leading the First Chechen War, a disaster which led to his sacking by Yeltsin in 1996. He died in 2012.